EYE ON DESIGN BY DAN GREGORY

Heart of the Home

Gathering to prepare and consume savory meals (and leftovers!) with family and friends is an important part of Thanksgiving. My ideal space for such rituals would be a large open kitchen-dining room with ample counters for more than one cook, and tall windows on at least two sides to suffuse the room with daylight. (Unfortunately my own kitchen is nothing like this.) I’d also like just enough separation between food prep and dining areas so you can’t see the dirty dishes. And the dining space should be lined with bookshelves in case someone needs to look up a quotation about broccoli or the derivation of cous-cous during the meal. It should be a place that can dress up or down simply according to how the table is set. And in a temperate climate, maybe almost everything moves outdoors…Here are some kitchen-dining room ideas to help you think about what you want the heart of your home to be.

This warmly inviting galley-kitchen-and-more by Backen Gillam Architects can open fully to the outdoors thanks to large sliding glass doors on two sides. Add a few more chairs and the big long preparation table can serve for dining as well (photo couresy BG Architects).

Or here’s an inventive indoor-outdoor screened dining porch by Fernau Hartman Architects. The outdoor feeling is enhanced by the change to decking for the floor and the use of exterior siding on one wall. The room feels larger than it is by borrowing space from the adjacent sitting area.

Here’s a dining-kitchen by Bosworth Hoedecker Architects.

I like the way the shelves run across the windows, letting light stream through the storage and display area.

So where do you start looking for plans with spacious kitchen-dining areas? Right here. Bon appetit:

Plan 436-1 has room for food prep and eating and hanging out.

A good place to celebrate Thanksgiving, next year!